When the WNBA staged its second Canadian exhibition game earlier this month in Edmonton, it wasn't the league's accomplished veterans who captured the sell-out crowd's excitement.
Hometown hero Kia Nurse was certainly the crowd favorite, but a close runner-up was a newcomer who had yet to set foot on WNBA hardwood: Cameron Brink.
Brink, who the Sparks drafted second overall in 2024, is a part of the women's basketball boom ushered in by the likes of Sabrina Ionescu, Aaliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers. The Canadian crowd's cheers underscored the stark difference in attention between Brink's era and her WNBA forerunners, who were constantly campaigning for more eyeballs.